Various methods and devices are available to provide traction to a patient suffering from sciatica or low back syndrome. Typically, the patient will be positioned to be lying on his back in a bed (a male patient is assumed merely for convenience), and the patient is then secured by a harness such that the lower body, normally the pelvis or legs, is pulled in the foot end direction of the bed to apply generally axial tension to the patient's spinal system, namely the spine, vertebrae and/or muscles in that area. In a typical harness system weights are used to apply a pulling force on the pelvis, legs or ankles. Instead of or combined with such a harness there may be traction tables with sliding platform parts to exert traction on specific areas to be treated.
Regardless of how effective these systems are, each has inherent disadvantages. These apparatus are cumbersome, complicated and/or expensive. A particular problem is that the patient must be assisted into and out of the traction device by a nurse or other assistant. Thus, the typical patient cannot engage and apply the traction apparatus to himself, and such patient cannot readily disengage the apparatus himself whenever he wishes to leave the bed. With such harness and weight apparatus there is a constant danger, either from an accidental disengagement of the weights or a patient's successful self disengagement so that a weight would fall. The result could be harm to the patient or to an attending nurse, aide or doctor, or at least unplanned loss of traction.